To Make Amends
by Urias Invictus
Summary: Percy is sentenced to an eternity in Tartarus, but things don't happen the way you expect. He'll meet many new and old faces. Allies come in the oddest places possible, people whom he thought he could trust betray him and those he thought least likely to help turn out to be the best of allies. A new look on an interesting idea.
1. Chapter 1: Judgement

Theogony suggested that it would take nine days to fall into Tartarus. He was wrong, I knew from experience. That said, the fall did feel like an eternity. An eternity for me to suffer through the memories of the previous week once more.

* * *

"You stand trial before the will of the gods. You have been found guilty of treason and conspiring with Gaea. Your sentence is death."

The red-haired goddess raised a hand into the air.

"Any last words?"

One of the prisoners before her grasped at her feet. "Please! He didn't do anything, I swear! Please!"

The goddess ignored the woman's pleas. "Lies, even unto the end you lie. Why do you try to defend this pig" The goddess spat at the black-haired teen kneeling before her. Dismissing her pleas the goddess turned to her Lieutenant.

"Kill them."

Two huntresses stepped up next to the Lieutenant. The creak of bowstrings sent the woman into desperate sobs. The black haired teen beside her raised his head, eyes boring into the Moon Goddess. "It's okay mother. Shh," he rasped. His eyes never left the goddess before him as the hunters released their arrows. The last second before he expected the deadly impact of the arrow he flinched. He had tried to put on a brave face for his mother, but he had flinched.

But the arrow never hit him, he didn't feel the burning pain of the silver tearing into him. The arrow never landed. The boy opened his eyes to the amazement of a silver and black clad figure before him, a gleaming bronze sword in his hands and the two halves of an arrow at his feet.

Time slowed for the captive boy as his eyes fell upon his mother. Or, as the case was, his mother's corpse. He didn't have time to say anything to his savior, he just crawled to his mother and pulled her head into his lap. He clutched the arrow in her throat, trying to remove it from his mom. The foolish woman had died trying to protect him, why couldn't she just let him take the punishment. Now she was dead because of him!

He gave up and turned back to the goddess and his savior. The man stood with his sword at his side pointing at the floor.

"They deserve a trial," the man was saying in a tone that indicated he and the hunters had had this argument before.

The hunters who had been hiding in plain sight began to appear, hissing and throwing insults at the lone figure. Weapons began appearing in hands, but the lone figure stood tall in front of the mourning teen. His posture told them that he was not afraid, but wary...and possibly regretful.

Two hunters tried to snake around his flank, but he backed up to the fallen boy. He kept his body in between the boy and the hunters.

"Cease this at once, boy. We have our orders and which need I remind you are yours as long as you work with my hunt." The Goddess said, exasperated. She too had had this conversation many times.

But the figure did not back down. "Aye, My Lady. But they still deserve trials. What if his mother's story is true, and he really did nothing. What then?"

"He's a boy, of course he's done something." The goddess dismissed. "Even you have innocent blood on your hands, Perseus Jackson."

The figure bristled with an unknown emotion. When he spoke again, his tone was deadly and quiet. "She told me to do it. You know that!" Restraining himself from rebuking with a curse or two. "It was the only way." He said in a near growl. The second the goddess had spoken those words, the man's demeanor had changed. Gone was the relaxed but determined attitude, replaced with a serious, subtle anger.

The goddess' eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly. "Perseus-" she started. "We know, Thalia confirms what you said, but these traitors-" she flicked her hand to the mourning child and the corpse of his mother. "They are not innocent."

"We've captured them. Leave Athena and the other Olympians to decide their fates. We have others to track." He said, the anger beginning to leave his voice. He seemed satisfied with the goddess' words. It was as close to an apology as he would get.

"Fine!" The goddess said, clearly exasperated. "Thalia and Phoebe restrain the boy and we shall bring him before the council and leave them to determine his fate." She turned away. "Perseus come with me, I need you to contact the son of Hades to find out where he is."

Percy nodded and his sword shrunk back into a pen and he started to follow the goddess as the two huntresses past him.

"Probably in league with them," Phoebe spat as she walked by. "Wants to protect his friends."

"Yes Phoebe, you're totally right. I've been working with Gaea all along. You got me," he chuckled. Dismissing the fuming huntress he began to follow Artemis.

He had made it naught five steps when a scream sounded behind him. He spun around, Riptide appearing in his hands.

For a second he couldn't comprehend the scene before him. Thalia lay on the ground, hand clutched to her throat as blood began to pool beneath her. Phoebe was collapsed on her side, a dagger sticking out if her stomach. The boy who has been sitting with his mother's head in her lap was crouching with a bloody dagger in one hand, the other stained up to the elbow in blood.

The boy had managed to attack both the surprised hunters, and was preparing to run away.

Roaring in rage Percy dashed forwards, Riptide sweeping the dagger from the boy's hand. His shoulder connected with the teen's head, slamming him back into the ground. Percy's sword swept up again and a vertical slash appeared on the boys chest. He drew back his sword and with a roar slammed it forward into the boys face. He left his sword in the corpse and turned to see a look of grief and rage on the Goddess of the Hunt's face. They both flew to Thalia's side, sending up prayers to Apollo to save her.

In a bright flash, the gods of Olympus appeared. Followed by a boy stumbling out of the shadows and collapsing at Thalia's side.

Apollo rushed forwards, but Nico let out a wail. He started crying, tears streaming down his face. The gods stood in a half circle, examining the scene before them.

Zeus' eyes turned the color of the worst thunderstorm and he raised a hand. Pointing at Percy. "Ares, Hephaestus, Take Percy Jackson into custody. It appears that Athena's suspicions were correct."

Percy looked up at them, he started to say something, but the two gods flew into him, slamming him into the ground. Ares kicked him in the face as Hephaestus pulled his arms behind his back. "Wha-" Percy started to say before Ares kicked him again and he blacked out.

Chains rattled and a few of the gods winced at the state of the Savior of Olympus. He struggled to stand, but the chains pressured his joints, keeping him laying on the floor.

"What is the meaning of this!" he demanded, shuffling to his knees. All around him the Olympians displayed a myriad of emotions, predominantly anger.

Poseidon looked down at his chained son. "Several accusations have been brought before the Council. You-" he paused as if he couldn't bring himself to say the words. "You are being tried for treason against the gods and consorting with Gaea."

The son of Poseidon looked at his father and the gods with confusion. That confusion rapidly turned to annoyance. And then the son of Poseidon, as is his nature, did the one thing that no one except the fates could have expected.

He began to laugh.

Athena bristled in rage. This wasn't supposed to be how it went. He was supposed to get furious and attack them with words. He was supposed to betray himself and then give Zeus a reason to cast him into Tartarus, but he was laughing? Actually, this would work for her.

"You see father. He's laughing about your loss, he helped that vile child murder Thalia and now the Bastard has the nerve to laugh about it!" She spat out.

That sobered him up real quick and he realized that this wasn't some sick joke that the gods were playing on him, they were serious. They actually believed these outrageous accusations from Athena.

If looks could kill, the look that Zeus was giving Percy would have sent him to Tartarus right here and now.

"BE SILENT BOY!" Zeus roared even though Percy had stopped laughing moments beforehand. After a short struggle Zeus was able to regain some composure to his face. "Weeks ago Athena brought these accusations to me. And though I never wanted to consider it, I didn't think you capable of betraying us, Son of Poseidon or not. So instead of acting on her word, I began my own investigation. I had you monitored," he said waving a hand at Artemis. "I began gathering testimonies from those who had been around you."

He pointed a finger at the middle of the room and an iris like message appeared. Before us all sat Piper and Athena.

"Alright dear, please tell me one more time what happened during the last rush to attack Gaea." Piper stiffened and Athena laid a hand on hers. "It's ok child. It's over."

Piper started shaking. "Alight…" she said in a small voice.

"We were fighting Porphyrion. Jason and I had fallen back from his onslaught, but Jason tripped. He must have broken his ankle or something because he couldn't get up. I'd tried to stay with him, but Percy shoved me out of the way and ran at the giant. He threw his sword to get its attention and then scooped up Jason's javelin. He stood in front of Jason and faced the Bane of Zeus on his own. We had no idea where Zeus was at the time, we couldn't have known that he was assisting you Athena and I don't hold it against him" she said. "It wasn't his fault."

She seemed to take a moment to recollect herself. "So Percy charged the giant and stuck him with the Javelin, but Porphyrion just shrugged off the blow and went to smash him. But Percy said something up to the Giant and it hesitated. It seemed to consider his words for a moment, and before I could hear the giant's reply I had to kill an earthborne that was trying to get at Jason. When I looked back, Percy was standing on the giant's fallen form and had stabbed the Javelin into its throat like a flagpole." She paused for a moment and then shook her head. "And that was when Zeus' bolt fell from the sky and struck Porphyrion. The giant was dead, and Percy was running over to help me and Jason. Or at least at the time I thought he was, but he was maybe five steps away when he suddenly dodged out of the way. Porphyrion hadn't been dead, he had just been dying and with his dying breath he hurled Jason's weapon at Percy's back. But he dodged out of the way and-" she broke off, unable to continue as she started crying again. "And the javelin," she said between sobs. "It flew into Jason's body and. and.. he died in my arms," she said before falling into another round of body wracking sobs.

After a few moments she looked up again and anger had replaced the sadness in her gaze. "There is no way that he could have dodged that throw!" She said with venom in her voice.

"No way unless he knew it was coming?" Athena prompted.

"Yes. I don't know why he did it, but he killed my Jason!" she spat.

The screen changed before Percy could even raise his voice to defend himself. Leo was sitting up in a hospital bed at Camp Half Blood. "And then he like threw his sword right into an Empousa. He fought like a badass all the way to Mimas and he shouted something at him. I was too far away-I got thrown thirty feet and lived you know-" he said puffing out his chest.

"Yes yes, what happened next" Athena asked off the screen.

"So yeah, and he marched up to Mimas and shouted something at him, and the giant like laughed and kneeled down next to him and said something else."

"And you couldn't hear what he said?" Athena asked?

"Well I heard him say that he would let the giant walk, but I didn't hear the rest of it." Leo said a confused look taking his face. "Why do you want to know?"

"Continue your story, please." Athena said.

"And then like Percy lunged at the giant and he got batted away. And Mimas turned on Nyssa and smacked her into the ground and thats when I was like "FLAME ON!" and flew at Mimas and smashed into his face. And then my Dad was like "SMASH!" and he brought his hammer down on the giant's head. IT WAS AWESOME!"

"That doesn't-" Percy started, but Poseidon slammed his trident into the ground. "These are serious accusations child, and I would advise you not to speak until asked."

Percy stared at his father in surprise and opened his mouth to say something but shut it again, betrayal clear in his eyes.

Everyone's eyes returned to the screen as it changed once more. Sitting in a chair in Elysium was Malcolm. Percy struggled at his bonds at seeing Annabeth's traitorous bastard of a brother.

Athena waved a hand and the image froze. "Have something to say boy?" she asked Percy, her eyes shining in victory.

"What is that-" he growled "Scum doing in Elysium. That traitor deserves the fields."

"Traitor?" Athena asked in pseudo surprise. "That's funny. Because that's how he describes you." She waved her hand and the images began playing again.

"Tell me Malcolm, what happened after the walls went up; blocking the gods out?"

"You won't like the answer, Mom" Malcolm said. His lips a grim line.

Athena just rolled a hand and Malcolm began speaking.

"I was laying on the ground from where Enceladus had thrown me, my leg was broken" he said, pointing at his left leg. "So when Percy and Annabeth stepped over the fallen form of Enceladus and Gaea rose the wall of earth, I was still on that side." He paused, his face screwed up as if he was remembering a bad memory which Percy guessed, he was. But not the memory he would tell about.

-Percy's Memories-

We had approached the waking goddess together, expecting the others to follow behind them, but Gaea's eyes had flown open. She had been awake the entire battle and was just waiting to separate us from the others.

An oath to keep with a final breath. I shook my head, trying to get those cursed words out of my mind.

Annabeth and I had moved together as Gaea approached us. She had barely made it a few steps when the earth behind us opened and Malcolm stood up, dagger in hand. Neither of us could react in time before the dagger was imbedded in Annabeth's gut.

I won't pretend, I had been furious. Her own brother had betrayed us. Not even seconds had passed before his head lay on the ground. He had deserved it. Here we were, alone facing a Primordial and this piece of trash had attacked us from behind.

Gaea had laughed. She had laughed as Annabeth lay bleeding on the ground. She hadn't realized what her actions would cost her in the long run.

To Storm or Fire the world must fall.

At the time I hadn't even thought of the words to the Prophecy. Hades, I hadn't even been thinking about Gaea. All that was going on in my world was Annabeth before me. If there was one thing that Malcolm and Annabeth had in common besides their mother and intelligence, it was their ability to use a dagger. There was nothing I could do for Annabeth, the dagger had sliced clean through her guts and one of her kidneys. There was nothing that I could do and I think that's what started the storm.

The prophecy was wrong, the world didnt fall to storm. My world fell to the storm, but not the real world, anger took me as Annabeth had lay dying and since I couldn't take it out on Malcolm, it was directed at Gaea. And it was useless, for all the power that I had she was a primordial. She had laughed as my power had struck her again and again. I had tried to attack her with Riptide, but she had shrugged off the hardest of my strikes. There was nothing to do.

When I began to wind down, she smacked me. She didn't hit me or smash me, she just smacked me. And I had gone flying, right next to Annabeth where she lay dying. I'd tried to apologize to her, but she'd just kissed me and turned to Gaea. I couldn't hear what they'd said to each other, but the next thing I remember was Annabeth embracing Gaea as they'd fallen into earth together. As they'd fallen, Gaea promised that my world would never be the same.

An oath to keep with a final breath.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Percy?" Poseidon asked. Percy raised his head to face his father. He didn't answer, it was clear to him now. Zeus, Athena, the gods, they all feared him. Nothing that he said would change that. Even if he cleared his name this once, all it would take was another mistake for Athena to jump on.

"I killed him."

"Son, it's-" Poseidon froze. "YOU WHAT!" The god of the sea exploded. His eyes became hard and cold and he tried to speak again, but his voice broke. "Son, I...No, no son of mine would ever betray the gods. No son of mine would ever kill an innocent. You….You are no son of mine." The god spat. He raised a hand and spoke a few words in a language so ancient that it hurt Percy's ears to hear.

Percy writhed in his chains as Poseidon continued to speak. Something deep inside of him started to push against his ribs. It felt like his heart was being forcibly ripped from his chest.

His head flew back and a scream exploded from his throat. The pressure intensified tenfold and Percy's body began to spasm in agony. The gods all watched in rapt attention, even the most hardened amongst them cringed, this was the first time in several millennium that a god had disowned one of their children with the curse of Ragnor. Percy's body twitched as an ethereal trident began to emerge from his chest. Poseidon's chant grew deeper and the trident tore itself all the way from Percy's chest before flying into the sea god's hands.

Percy's body stopped spasming and he raised his head to look into the cold eyes of the God of the Sea. Poseidon grasped the ethereal symbol and rose. The god's expression never changed as he broke the symbol over a giant knee. As Percy fell to his knees Anaklusmos flew from his pocket and landed in the gods hands.

All the surrounding gods winced as the once son of Poseidon's power over his father's realm was destroyed. Percy visibly deflated before the gods and Athena smiled. He looked into the cold face of his once father and turned away. He faced Athena and then Zeus in turn. He didn't say anything to either of them. He turned to Hestia, and her face hurt more than his fathers. She looked at him with pity and disappointment. She looked as if he had failed her and yet she was ready to forgive him. Forgive him for something he never did. She believed the stories. She believed everything that Athena had constructed. Just as his father had. Just like the others would.

Zeus raised himself from his throne. "Perseus Jackson, You stand before us accused of treason against the gods, the murder of innocents, and consorting with the goddess Gaea. How do you plead?"

"I don't." Percy said, his gaze never leaving the King of the God's. "I chose not to plea and instead leave my fate up to the gods. I trust you all to make the correct decision." he said, sarcasm laced in his tone.

Zeus seemed taken aback for a moment before his face turned to glee. He wouldn't have to start a war to destroy this demigod. His brother had disowned him and any right that he had to defend him. The boy was giving the council freedom to decide his fate. This day couldn't get any better for the King of the Gods.

"We shall put the fate of this, boy, up to a Council vote. All in favor of sentencing him to Tartarus. Allowing the monsters and the Lord of the Pit decide his fate."

Eleven of the Council's hands rose into the air, unsurprisingly.

"Those opposed?"

Three hands rose into the air. Hestia and Hades were unsurprising. Percy expected them. He had returned their council seats to them and he had always been there for Hade's children. This was Hestia's way of forgiving him for the wrongs that she thought he had committed. A useless gesture, but a kindness in her mind none the less.

What did surprise Percy was Hera's hand. He thought that she hated all demigods, but here she was voting against his execution. But he didn't have time to think about what it meant because Zeus was talking again.

"Perseus Jackson, the Council has decided your fate. For your crimes against the gods you are hereby sentenced to Tartarus. May the Lord of the Pit make you pay for your crimes. Have you any last words?" the king of the gods asked.

Percy looked out at the faces before him. Gods that he had considered his friends had just voted to see him murdered based on lies and expertly twisted facts. Those who had voted for him to live still thought that he had committed said crimes. He had nothing kind to say to any of the gods here.

Percy raised his head and addressed the gods seated before him. "I did not do the things you have said I have. Your pride and arrogance has blinded you to the lies set before you by Athena. You fear that I would betray you when my fatal flaw is loyalty. My own father," he stopped to sneer at the god of the sea, "disowned me based on the words of others. I-" his voice broke. "I don't know what to say except I did not betray you."

Zeus sneered and pointed his master bolt at Percy's chest. With a shout, power flew from the master bolt and slammed into his chest. Percy writhed in pain as his skin burned and flaked away, leaving an exact replica of his body beneath it. Almost like a snake shedding his skin.

"You shall forever be immortal, experiencing the pains of Tartarus forever, traitor!" Zeus spat as the pit opened before him. Athena got off her throne and unshackled him. "You're the reason that my daughter is dead," she spat. Picking him up by the throat she hurled him into the pit.

Percy watched as he fell down into the pit. He watched until the light faded above and the gods sealed the entrance.

For the first several hours I fell, I wept. You may call me weak, but everything I had was just torn away from me. I was betrayed by all those I cared for, inadvertently or not. So yes, I cried. After a while though, my brain began to shut down, the sadness left and fear took its place. I was returning to Tartarus...the horrible place it was, but this time there would be no escape. Nyx and Tartarus and the Titans and any number of monsters were going to have free range on me. I was about to enter hell itself. And that leaves us here, me falling to eternal pain.

I snapped out of it as I began to slow down. I was reaching the bottom I realized, I was coming to the end and the beginning of pain forever. I closed my eyes and swore not let them take me easily. Weapon or no, I would go down fighting.

I landed on my feet and looked around me. I saw the blow coming too late. A club took me on the head and I fell to my knees. Blows rained down on me, feral grunts escaping my attacker.

"STOP!" A voice roared.

"But-" a low growling voice started.

"I said stop," the voice said again and my attacker drew back.

I knew that voice, but I refused to look up. I wouldn't accept that I had fallen into the hands of the one person that scared me the most.

"Well, hello Grandson, it looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together."

I looked up in horror. I looked up into the face of someone who shouldn't even be able to form a consciousness, let alone a body. I looked up into the face of Kronos.

* * *

AN: So I just wanted to write this story. I have to discuss things with my Beta to see if he's willing to Beta this story too. Otherwise it will be unchecked.

AN: Update, Beta is onboard with the project so it looks like there won't be so many spelling or grammatical errors.


	2. Chapter 2: Past Mistakes

"Get him on his feet," Kronos said to two giants standing off to the side. "We need to get him back to camp before the others come looking for him."

The Titan of time turned to face the demigod. "You managed to piss off quite a lot of things when you were last here," he said patting the demigods shoulder.

Percy had risen to his feet, well the giants had more or less picked him up and deposited him on his feet, but nonetheless he was standing under his own will. He tensed and started to react as Kronos patted him on the shoulder, he had been expecting an attack, but the Titan had moved on. Standing to his left now the Titan accepted a cane from a waiting monster.

He turned back to face the demigod and his face shone with amusement. "Now Grandson, I'm terribly sorry for this," he said and faster than Percy could comprehend the heavy head of the cane slammed into his skull.

"Quickly now get him to the camp. We don't know when the others will arrive and we're currently occupied on the western front so we are extremely undermanned for an expedition of this size into the neutral grounds." Percy heard the Titan say to the monsters facing outwards around him.

Through bleary eyes Percy tried to look for any advantage he could find as the two giants picked him up by an arm each and began walking away with him swinging between them. It was beginning to dawn on him just exactly how screwed he was. The gods had betrayed him, and here he was stuck in the worst place in the world with his worst enemy. The same one who had sworn to destroy him and all of his loved ones, and here he was a captive of the Titan of Time. Alone. His imagination was already beginning to supply images of what Kronos would do to him.

The blow to the head must have been harder than he thought because when he opened his eyes again they were passing under a gate in a fortress wall.

Above them several monsters stood with what looked like improvised stone weapons. You'd think they'd be better armed with all the monsters with Bronze or Gold weapons in the world above, but only one of the cyclops above them had a Celestial bronze spear. When they were through a porticus was lowered and what looked like a bank vault door was closed, blocking the gate off from the passage further into the fortress.

As the giants kept walking deeper into the fortress Percy was already planning on making a move when they reached their destination. He wouldn't let Kronos have him so easy, he would fight until they destroyed him or he wasn't worth the fun.

"Alright, set him down," Kronos said, turning to the demigod as they stopped in what looked like a courtyard. "So welco-" Kronos started, but once the giants set him down Percy elbowed a dracaena in the face and grabbed her sword, slashing the blade between them forcing her to back away from the door. He burst into a run, making for the vault doors.

He heard feet pounding behind him and he was almost at the doors when something hit him in the back of the head.

**Linear Fissure**

A deep throbbing started, a pressure building in his skull. Gods he hurt. He opened his eyes and looked around himself. All around dark stone walls were accented only by violent, evil looking implements. Why was he here? Wait for that matter where was he?

Percy's mind spun as he remembered where he was. Well shit, here he was stuck in a dungeon of his worst enemies. Now when he looked around and saw all the implements of torture his mind supplied images of what they would feel like on his body. He was doomed, forsaken.

He tried to move his limbs, but they were cinched down to the chair with what looked like a leather. He struggled to move his legs, but they were similarly bound.

Yep he was truly screwed, but as he looked around he noticed that Kronos wasn't in the room so at least his torture wouldn't start for a while yet.

He should have known better than to think things like that, he hadn't finished his thought when the door on the far wall opened and the Titan of Time walked in. As he walked, Percy noticed that he actually was relying on his cane and it wasn't just some sort of fashion statement.

Kronos noticed his gaze "Yes, I suppose I have you to thank for this," the Titan said motioning to his cane and leg. His tone surprised Percy. He didn't sound mad, nor angry or bitter, he just sounded tired.

The Titan made his way over to a chair that sat across a table from the restrained Percy. Sitting on the table across from the two was a wickedly sharp looking spike of a dark black metal and a long knife of a similar material… But for the moment the Titan ignored the weapons.

"You've caused me a lot of problems, demigod," his hand resting near the spike.

Percy drew in a breath preparing himself for the Titan to grab the weapon and cross to him, but instead he just set his cane down and eased himself into the chair.

The Titan sighed in contentment like he was glad to be off his feet. Which, Percy thought, he very well could have been. Even evil maniacs could get tired, he figured.

"We have a lot to discuss and very little time. Some of the other players have discovered that I am in possession of you at the moment and they will be arriving to make a move soon." The Titan paused and a smile came to his face. "You haven't been in this land for but a few hours and you have already begun causing me more problems," he chuckled before subsiding into a fit of coughing.

Percy noticed this and filed the detail away. It looked like the Titan was sick, something that he might be able to use to his advantage if he was to escape.

"Enough of this, we need to get down to the point." The Titan stood and grabbed up the spike and knife, walking towards the demigod.

Percy's body tensed up, his instincts itching for him to fight even though his body was literally incapable of doing anything.

The Titan walked past his right shoulder and Percy's mind screamed at him. He was in his blind spot, and there was nothing stopping the Titan from doing whatever he wanted to him. He strained to hear where the Titan Lord was, but he couldn't hear his footsteps, he couldn't feel the brush of cloth or anything to give away his position. The Titan was like a ghost, Percy's body was prepared for the horrible pain that would follow that blade parting his flesh.

There was a sound behind him, but not directly so. It was further away, a meter maybe more. The sound of a blade being sheathed and then hard leather slapping back onto a hard surface. A clinking sound followed, a sound like the spike landing in a pile of others just like it.

A low dragging sound followed for a second before Kronos walked back into Percy's peripherals. The Titan Lord carried a chair over to the table and set it down before walking back behind him. He tensed again as his restraints were drawn tighter.

Then, they were slackened. The Titan walked to the door and opened it. "Something semi edible," he said before closing the door and walking over to his seat. Percy began moving his arms in slow almost unnoticeable circles. He had loosened his left arm enough to pull it out when Kronos looked up.

"Well are you going to join me or not?" the Titan asked in an exasperated voice catching Percy off guard. "If you'd like to stay there be my guest, but we have a lot to discuss and we're running out of time."

Percy opened his mouth and closed it again. "Close your mouth before something crawls inside," the Titan said, motioning to the walls around them as if there were animals that would like to make a nest in his body….well now that he thought about it there probably were.

He freed himself from his restraints easily enough. His eyes on Kronos, Percy crossed to one of the walls. His hand was inches away from the wall when he froze, turning back to face the Titan.

Kronos sat with one hand raised, palm outwards. "Perseus-" he said. "I will not tolerate the murder of anyone or anything inside this fortress. Do you understand?"

Percy couldn't decide whether to try and make a run for it or listen to whatever insanity Kronos would surely serve him. He nodded once toKronos and immediately he had control of his body. A long thin blade from the wall felt decent in his hand. He returned it to its sheath and slung that over a shoulder before approaching the seat Kronos had brought to the table. He perched on the left edge, sword over his left shoulder. If he had to draw, yes his sword arm would be blocked by the table to his right, but it was the best he could do and still pretend to be interested in what the Titan had to say.

"I apologize for these...Quarters. But you gave me little choice and this is the only room in the fortress with restraints...well and the pit-" Kronos realized that the was avoiding the reason why the demigod was sitting of his free will and not strapped into the chair with pointy implements embedded all over him.

"We saw what happened in the throne room. All of Tartarus did, Athena made sure of that," the Titan laughed. "And now you think I'm going to give you the 'Look how evil the gods are, I'd be such a better ruler' speech and ask you to join me. Correct?" The Titan asked.

Percy smirked, he couldn't help it. "Aren't you?" he returned reminding himself that he was sitting across from one of the most dangerous beings in the world, a really evil one at that.

"No. I'm going to tell you a story and you will decide what you want to do." The Titan Lord said before noticing the look of distrust in Percy's eyes. "I probably deserve your lack of trust, but I give you my word-" The Titan paused, a look of contemplation then forfeit taking his features. "I swear on my power that I will not strap you back into that chair or torture you as long as you do not attack anything within these walls or under my command."

Percy considered this. He had never heard someone swear upon their power, but by how Kronos had acted it seemed like a pretty intense oath. Maybe more so than one on the River Styx. He nodded his head for Kronos to continue.

"You probably know the story of how my son Zeus killed me and cast me into Tartarus, freeing earth from my rule of tyranny? Correct?" Kronos asked and Percy started to answer before realizing it was rhetorical. "There is a saying in your world, 'History is written by the victor' and that grandson, is exactly what happened." He paused and contemplated something. "I swear upon my position in Tartarus that what I will tell you will be the truth."

Percy waited, he wanted to hear what the Titan was saying. There had always been something missing from those stories, at least he thought so.

"It was true that I was acting tyrannical, rageful, paranoid...I suppose that you could say evil."

Percy wasn't expecting that, for him to just come out and admit that what had happened had been perfectly correct.

"I had recently reformed from a trip to this very place. Four months by your current calendar before my children had been born, I had been killed by my mother. It was an accident, but it had happened none the less but it couldn't have happened at a worse time." He paused, his face taking on a reminiscent expression. "Rhea was ready to give birth the day after I was killed. I had to get back to her. I didn't think about the consequences." His voice trailed off and he put his head in his hands.

"What consequences?" Percy asked, surprised at himself for his soothing tone. He felt bad for this evil dude?

Kronos looked at him like he was insane. "You don't know what happens when an immortal reforms before their allotted time? Do you truly not know?" He sounded genuinely confused like whatever he meant was common knowledge

Percy shook his head and Kronos sighed. "I suppose they wouldn't want to explain that. Too much for you all to know." He sighed again. "When an immortal dies, their body is turned to dust. I'm sure you are familiar with this phenomenon, seeing as how many monsters hate you down here." He shook his head like he was still getting over the fact that Percy didn't know.

"When they die, their body and soul reform in Tartarus. The body reforms instantly," Kronos said, gesturing to his current form and how it was able to grasp things like his cane, and those weapons. "But the soul takes time. It has something to do with Celestial damage and pure healing and some other mumbo jumbo. That was never my strong suit," he said smiling like he was just any grandfather telling a grandchild some story about shenanigans he got up to when he was younger. "We're straying from the topic though. When the soul is being repaired, it is not being instituted a little at a time. No, it is already fully inside our bodies it's just being healed for our return to the world above. The more damage we sustain from our fatal wounds the longer this takes. Fatal wounds may also have a nonphysical side, which is why it takes some immortals longer to reform."

Kronos paused and gave Percy a look clearly asking if he was still listening. Percy bristled when he realized this. "HEY! I can pay attention to some stuff." He snapped at the Titan causing him to laugh and soon Percy was joining in.

Still smiling Kronos continued. "When an immortal has their mind set on it, they can return to the world above at any time he or she wants…with consequences," he said, gesturing to Percy. "When we reform without the proper time to heal, our soul isn't the same. There is a corruption upon it, an unhealed area. Something that is impure." He gave Percy a pointed look. "When an immortal reforms before they are healed there is incredible rage and anger in them. The corruption eats away whatever parts of the soul have been healed and destroys almost all reason in the being. What is left behind is nothing of the original." He gave Percy a very pointed look. "There is only one way to deal with such a being. Putting them down is the only way." he watched Percy's reaction as the demigod realized that the Titan truly did hold no ill will against him.

"If you knew these risks, why'd you try and destroy Olympus?" Percy asked, a hint of anger entering his voice. "I HAD FRIENDS WHO DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!" he roared, standing up from his seat and slamming his hands on the table.

Instead of growing angry or attacking him, the Titan just sat there as Percy exploded. "I know. I'm sorry," the Titan said in a calm voice, his head hanging. "I thought that by going through the boy I would be able to avoid the corruption...I was wrong. And it cost me a lot as well. I had to throw the many of those under my command to their deaths." Kronos paused and looked up, his eyes burning in fury. "But those sacrifices had to be made." Acid dripped in his voice and it scared Percy. Even when the Titan had been threatening and cursing him up on Olympus, it was nothing compared to the being before him. Something inside him told him that Kronos could tear him apart without working up a sweat. Even if he was sick or whatever. This grandfatherly figure was much more dangerous than his corrupted self.

"What Zeus has done has crossed the line. A year before my attempts, he had Artemis hunt down every single one of the demititans. He brought them before the Council and had them executed in cold blood." The Titans eyes began to glow with golden fire and Percy sat back down. Moving further into his seat. "My son's power has corrupted him. Those children did nothing to him! THEY WERE NO THREAT!" Kronos roared.

Percy opened his mouth, but Kronos was already reigning himself in. "Their parents had already sworn to not go against Olympus, but he had their children killed and cast into Tartarus. Many of them are in this very fortress, but others I couldn't reach in time."

Kronos started shaking his head. "No, my son is no longer fit to rule. I had to act, but apparently my attempts were impure. The corruption took control and destroyed my plans." He stopped and looked Percy directly in the eyes. "He needs to be stopped."

The Titan looked away and rolled his cane around on the table. "But we have other problems." He stood and began walking to the door. "Perseus, walk with me?" He asked.

Percy stood up and looked around the room. "Alright." He crossed to beside Kronos and they left the room together. On either side of the door were two giants like the ones that had picked him up. Both had spears, one made of Celestial Bronze and the other Imperial Gold. They fell in behind the two, but neither of them were acting hostile and Percy began to relax his stance. He was still prepared for anything, but Kronos seemed genuine and at least for now, Percy wouldn't start anything.

"Welcome to Avernus," Kronos said as they exited a tunnel. They stepped onto a ledge overlooking a massive grotto.

The cavern lacked the green that one would associate with a grotto, but the cavern was massive none the less. The cavern must have stretched near 400 feet down and close to twice that across. Huts were imbedded in the rocks all up the walls and suspended bridges crisscrossed at all different levels. Down one side a massive waterfall of fire rained down, forming a river at the bottom and disappearing into the opposite end.

It was needless to say that Percy was amazed by this place. It looked like they had an entire city in this cavern. "Impressive," he said to the Titan and the two Giants.

Kronos nodded, smiling. He was clearly very proud of this...city...for lack of a better word. They walked on, crossing several bridges, taking stairs and even a pulley elevator. Eventually they came across a door flowing with runes. Kronos raised a hand and the runes glowed golden before turning and lining up with others of their kind. With a flash of gold, the runes stopped moving and the door popped out a little. One of the giants passed Percy and opened the door for them, closing it again when they were through.

Another corridor and a flight of stairs and they were back in the fortress. More giants flanked the exit and above them Percy glimpsed several humanoid figures armed with longbows. Every one of the guards were standing at the ready, bows strung and arrows knocked. Either alarms had just gone off or this was the normal standing garrison. And after seeing the city underneath him, he was leaning towards the latter.

"The Fortress of Avernus, the heart of my power here in the Pit." Kronos waved a hand around the courtyard surrounded by massive walls and a Citadel in the center. "The lands of Avernus stretch many miles in each direction. I'll have a guard show you a map of the Pit, or at least the latest one we've created, if you should choose to accept my offer."

They walked on and Percy rolled the titan's words around in his head. Even with Kronos' new attitude Percy wasn't entirely convinced. He was aware of the Titan's ability to give false promises. Though the oath that he had made in the dungeons had helped.

They arrived at the gates to the Citadel where two Cyclops stood on either side of the massive doors. One was armed with a celestial bronze pike, but the other had one made of steel.

Kronos noticed Percy's gaze and nodded. "It's consecrated." He said pausing as if considering whether to tell him something or not. "In the blood of a demigod. It can now harm monsters and immortals alike. We use what metals we have available down here."

Percy was somewhat disgusted by that knowledge, but it made sense, as to why he didn't know about that. If there was ever a problem for the gods and mortals realized they could make bullets and things harmful….the gods would have a problem on their hands.

Kronos nodded to the guards and they opened the enormous doors, letting them into the citadel. The entrance was blocked by a porticlus that was raised by two more armored cyclops. Further into the Citadel's main entrance there was another porticlus that a new set of guards raised.

They walked further in, taking more hallways and passing under more security gates. Eventually they came to a set of double doors with two Giants wearing dark black metal armor, with red accents and a white cloak with a golden sycth emblazoned on the back. At their sides were enormous swords in golden sheaths. Each giant's face was obscured a little by a white hood with golden trim. They stood flanking the door, clearly ready for battle but also relaxed.

They both snapped to attention, forearms braced over their right breasts. Kronos greeted them by name and ended with a phrase in the language that caused Percy's ears to tingle, he could tell by the cadence that it was the same language that Poseidon had used to disown him.

The two giants answered in the same language and pushed open the door behind them. Kronos nodded once more and walked through, the two giants that had been walking with them bowed respectfully to the two wearing the cloaks and turned back the way that they had come.

Percy looked them both over and he could see that they were analyzing him underneath their hoods. He nodded to them and after a moment they returned the motion and gestured for him to follow Kronos.

When he was through they entered, closing the doors behind them and taking up positions on either side on the inside. Kronos had crossed to a massive table in the middle of the room. He stood over a pile of papers, sorting through them and nodding his head. So Percy just stood a little back and waited. Eventually a door opened and two humanoid figures in similar gear to the giants walked in. They noted Percy and sat at the table near where Kronos stood.

More time passed and a few figures came and went, only one more similarly armored figure joined those at the table. The others were just messengers and Percy was beginning to get bored of waiting. He was considering saying something when a door opened and a figure covered in the same armor as the others walked in. The new figure was covered in thick brown fur, and stood glaring at Percy. After a moment it snorted and went to sit at an end of the table.

Kronos nodded to at it and turned to face Percy. "Welcome to the inner sanctum of Avernus, Perseus."

He nodded his head to those around him. "The Lords of Avernus," he turned his head back and began. "You know a few of them but they will introduce themselves if they please."

The two giants grunted from the door, their names were Hawk and Fisher and Percy greeted each respectively. They both snorted in laughter when he said his name.

The two figures at the table turned to each other and nodded. They knocked back their hoods and Percy yelled in happiness. Before him was Bob, or Iapetus he assumed and a much smaller Damasen. They both rose and hugged the demigod, each ecstatic to see the others.

"How! I assumed Tartarus destroyed you!"

"A story for a later time," Iapetus said, clasping the demigods forearm. "Though it saddens me to see you here, it is good to see you again Perseus."

"Aye," agreed Damasen. They finished the embraces and returned to their seats.

The second to last figure was none other than Thanatos. Percy was confused to see him here, but Thanatos briefly explained that his minor god form was working for Hades as his Nyxian form resided in Tartarus.

Percy nodded to him and turned to the last figure. It contemplated him for a moment before standing and walking towards the demigod.

Percy stood his ground and stopped himself from reaching for the sword slung over his back. He assumed this would be a very difficult fight and Kronos' promise to him stayed his hand.

The figure stopped a few feet away and held a hand out, up right to the ground, grip slightly open and the haft of an axe appeared in its grasp, the shaft reaching down almost to the floor. It was an axe Percy would never forget.

The head of the axe revealed who it was before the thing knocked its hood off.

It took every ounce of Percy's will to not draw his sword.

Standing before him was the Minotaur. His old enemy, in the fur. One horn hewn off at a jagged edge. It stood before him, its gaze full of fury as it realized where Percy was looking. It took a step forwards and stopped. Snorting at him it spoke.

"Greetings Perseus, Calf Murder," he said in a deep growling voice.

"I have murdered no calves," Percy objected. "You seem to know my name, but I lack yours. Or shall I call you Minotaur, Kin slayer!" He challenged back, gesturing to the necklaces hanging beneath the Omega head of the axe.

The Minotaur growled and took another step forwards. "You know naught!" It roared, but seemed to calm itself in a moment. "I am called Ozzymandias, come to me should you feel lucky or if you wish the truth, spawn of evil" it said before turning back and returning to its spot at the table. Returning his hood over his head, covering the broken horn.

Percy was interested, moreover he was surprised that the Minotaur could even talk. It seemed better in control of its actions as well, perhaps immortals weren't the only ones that the corruption affected. Perhaps it could gain a foothold in the great monsters as well.

Kronos seemed satisfied with the introductions, he opened his mouth to speak when a side door slammed open. A panting figure emerged gasping for breath and Percy could hear alarm bells and what sounded like an air raid siren in the distance.

"My Lords!" The messenger gasped out, panting for breath to speak his next words. "An envoy from Tartarus, led by none other than himself approaches. It seems the news of the unclaimed ha reached The Lord of the Pit's ears."

Kronos turned to face Percy. All calm exited his gaze. "You're an independent at the moment, and though we don't have time to go into the politics of this cursed place, all independents fall under Tartarus' command. You must act quickly! Swear yourself to me, and he nor any other players here will have a claim to you!"

Percy's mind was reeling, but it looked like he didn't have that much of a choice. He still didn't trust Kronos, but seeing Iapetus and Damasen here and experiencing this whole new side to the Titan of Time, he was more keen to listen to them than The Lord of the Pit who did not forgive...ever."

"I will not," Percy said calmly. Those at the table raised their voices in protest. Iapetus loudest among them and Percy calmly raised a hand. "I will never swear allegiance to another deity, but I will swear myself to Avernus. Will that be enough?"

Though the others were still protesting Kronos cocked his head in thought before breaking into a grin. "Very intelligent, Perseus. It will work."

The others protests pattered off and Kronos began to speak.

"Perseus Jackson! Do you swear yourself to the protection of Avernus. The fortress and those that lie beneath its walls!" The Titan said, voice amplified by some sort of power or magic.

Percy removed the scabbard from his back and cast it to the floor. "I swear myself to Avernus until a time when that vow should no longer pertain."

Kronos nodded his head, smiling at the forethought of the demigod before him. He looked at those seated around the tables and every single one of them nodded, even Ozzymandias.

"Avernus accepts your vow!" The Titan boomed. "Welcome amongst us, Perseus Jackson; Lord of Avernus!"

Each of the Lords in the room salute with a fist over their breasts and the messenger bowed deeply.

Kronos grinned and started laughing. "Go with Damasen, he will get you equipped with the proper gear for a Lord of Avernus." He paused still laughing. "I get to go give Tartarus the news. He's going to love that!" The Titan was joined in laughter by the other lords.

Kronos turned to leave the room and paused, looking back. "Here in the pits you will learn many secrets that the gods do not want any to know. You will be faced with trials that may even slow one as you. There is much for you to learn Perseus, make the correct decisions." He turned and left the room, flanked by Hawk and Fisher. Iapetus rose and clasped Percy's arm before following. Thanatos cocked his head and melted into the shadows behind his chair.

Ozzymandias looked the demigod over and nodded his head once, leaving through another door. Leaving Percy alone with Damasen.

"So, let's get started?"

**An**: So how many of you were expecting that from the hook for the story. Be honest.

This will hopefully be as interesting a story to read as it is to write. I know no one would ever think that Percy would join Kronos, but after what happened on Olympus and how Percy realized the gods weren't making the best decisions...oh and the fact that Kronos isn't really evil...I think it's a possibility.

I won't apologize for this chapter being late because it's not. I realized that those of you who read my stories will read the chapters when I post them and that me saying a date and failing to provide isn't a good thing. That said, I sent this chapter off to my beta at a bad time (and late) so if I promised you in a pm that I would have chapter out by the second, for that I am sorry.

As always you readers are great! If you need to ping pong ideas holla at me. I might not be the best with grammar, but I can help with building your ideas with the best of them. (I'm sure that's an incorrect use of grammar, but I could care less).

Go read Anak's works, they're all amazing. If anyone can find any cool stories holler at me in a review or something. I can always do with a good read.

Invictus


	3. Chapter 3: PayChecks

Unknown to the mortal world as a whole the loss of the Hero of Olympus was the initial impact on a piece of glass. The damage looked small at first, but without his influence the Olympians' paranoia was growing. Since the Hero of Olympus had become aware of the world of the Greek gods, he had been instigating changes. His quests had been unorthodox, knocked the God of War down a few pegs, returned several symbols of power to the Gods, healed the most favored demigod-daughter of Zeus. He had saved a goddess that hates all men, successfully proving that not all men are horrible. He had saved a demigod camp, and then saved the world itself. He faced down the Lord of the Titans, turned down immortality, and made the gods acknowledge their children. In one day he had saved billions of lives, and changed something that had been going on for centuries.

And then he did it all again nearly a month after he had saved the world once. His success made the gods realize several things. The demigod had saved the world again, but again he hadn't been able to save everyone. Athena's bitterness at her daughter's death had driven her to anger and resentment at the Hero of Olympus. Zeus realized that this demigod had power, possibly too much power for a single demigod. And so the Gods of Olympus had rid themselves of this threat.

Without the Demigod, things had deteriorated in the following years. In the ten years after, unrest grew amongst the gods. Many began turning on one another, within four years the conflicts had spilled over into the mortal world. Hades withdrew from the world, retreating into the underworld and the hearth burned lower than ever before. The gods began influencing the mortal world even more. Gangs under the control of the gods began running the streets, politics grew worse, corruption, theft, murder ran rampant throughout the city. Beneath Olympus, small things no longer mattered. A single mortal which was meaningless before, grew even worse. Those favored by the gods took power, mortal corruption became even worse, and while all these things occurred not a soul in the world above heard from the Hero of Olympus.

A single leaf fell from an oak. It fluttered down to the ground and was soon trodden upon by a heavy heel.

Booted feet clumped down the sidewalk and the man leaning against the wall realized it was time to pack up and leave. A tin cup almost flew into the man's hands as he began to rise, folding the cardboard sign and stuffing it into a bag hanging from the side of a shopping cart. He needed to be anywhere but here, the sound of heavy boots coming closer down the sidewalk.

Casting about, the ragged man looked for his hat. The nights in Chicago were freezing with the hat he'd have hated to go without it but those boot steps...the man froze, the boots had stopped moving.

His eyes snapped up, looking left and right. Shit, he thought when he realized that the man with the heavy boots had disappeared.

He cast about with his free hand as he kept looking for the figure. Expecting at any time for him to walk back into view and it would be too late to leave.

"Looking for this," a deep voice spoke from the shadows to his left. He turned to face the voice and froze. Half in the shadow was the owner of the heavy military boots. There would be no escape, he thought as his gaze swept upwards.

Dark grey cargo pants with bulging pockets met the bottom of a heavy black bomber jacket. The man's eyes continued upwards despite his subconscious thoughts to stop.

Aviators perched themselves on the bearded face of what he had begun to realize would be the last face he saw.

If the man saw the fear in his eyes he didn't care. The man reached up and removed the aviators, giving a wolfish grin at the ragged man.

"This yours?" He asked again, his smile beginning to unsettle the man. His gaze landed on his hat and the outstretched hand. Clad in white latex gloves the man's hands confirmed to the man that he wasn't going to be making it out alive.

The old veteran raised his head proud, facing his death full on.

"Aye, it is mine." The ragged man kept his gaze level, directly into the booted mans.

"You should go for a walk. This will be here when you get back in an hour," the booted man said, surprising the homeless vet.

He had seen this man's face, it didn't talk much to put the dots together but criminals didn't just let people go. This had to be some sort of trick, but past the wolfish smile and dangerous exterior, this man had nothing by kindness in his eyes.

The old vet took the hat from the proffered hand and started backing away.

"Come back in an hour. We'll keep your cart safe," the booted man said as a van backed into the alley past him. Three more figures got out of the vehicle. All equally imposing, in similar outfits. The homeless man nodded once to the man before him and turned, walking quickly from the area. Leaving the group behind him, he turned the corner and kept moving. He'd be back in an hour, and he really doubted that anything bad would happen to his cart.

"Why'd you let him go, Death?" One of the figures said. The bearded man shrugged.

"We aren't here to cause undue harm. These people have done nothing to us, it's them," he said pointing across the street at a one story building. "We're here because they work for the higher ups and have been stealing money from the people. They're profiting off driving people from their homes and slamming them with heavy fees. Remember that, War."

War gave a throaty laugh, clapping Death on the shoulder. "I know that. I'm just fucking with ya."

The other two figures walked around the side of the van. "You two done fucking around or are we going to do this?" The one on the right asked, unzipping his jacket.

"Bite me, Strife" Death growled. He grabbed the van's back doors and opened them outwards. He unzipped the jacket and shrugged out, revealing a shoulder holster with a 1911 and two extra clips on the counter weight.

The others were also shedding jackets, revealing several other weapons in similar rigs. The fourth figure walked up behind Strife and adjusted his harness. Muttering about unevenness.

Death cracked a grin, "You and Pestilence quite finished, or are we gonna do this?" He joked laughing, war joining in moments later as the two's faces tinted pink.

"Shut it, Death," Strife grumbled and Pestilence laughed. She reached over and grabbed his shoulder giving it a squeeze.

"Let Death grumble. He's just mad no one loves him," her face splitting into a wolfish smile.

Death growled half heartedly at her and War started laughing again.

As they joked around they began unpacking things from the van. Each one out on a military grade Kevlar and ceramic plate vest. Helping each other strap them on so their shoulder rigs were still accessible.

War reached into the truck and withdrew a S.A.W and two boxes of ammo. Strife took one of the boxes and shoved it into an easily accessible slot on the back of her armor, while War loaded the other into the gun, making sure there were no kinks in the belt before slamming the top closed and pulling back the cocking handle.

Strife withdrew a Benelli and loading a few shells in, before slinging it over his back. He turned to Pestilence and helped her secure a few extra magazines for her REC7.

Death withdrew a two shot breach-sawed off shotgun and slammed it home into the holster on his thigh before reaching back in for a loaded MP7 and two extra clips.

All of this was accomplished in less than two minutes from opening the back of the van. A few more bits and bobs were added to their harnesses before they were finished. Each person lay their weapons down on the bed of the van and pulled on a mask.

Death's was white in the shape of a skull. War's was white porceline with a single diagonal slash of red crossing from above one eye all the way down to the edge of the mask. Strife's was golden and horned, two three inch long curved demon horns sprouting from the forehead. Pestilence's mask was green and sunken, the face of a zombie molded to the front.

Fully masked and satisfied, death nodded to each of them in turn. He slammed the doors and pounded twice. Accepting his gun from Strife, he started walking towards the van as it pulled out of the alley. They meandered their way across the street without any difficulty.

The first person noticed them coming as they opened the front door. The woman froze and stood stock still as Strife calmly pointed the barrel of his shotty at her, almost tiredly. She backed against the wall as they came in, Pestilence threading a chain through the door handles, securing it with a heavy padlock.

Death wandered calmly into the center of the room, War on his tail as Strife finished tying the woman's hands and feet together with zip ties before he and Pestilence broke off, wandering through an open door, down a hallway.

Death walked to the front of the line at the counter, War right behind him, S.A.W. calmly pointed towards the people behind the counter.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to apologize for this, but this is a robbery!" He yelled as he reached the counter, ignoring the gasps behind him. He leveled his gun at those first in line and made a show of flicking off the safety.

War moved past him, pressing the muzzle of the SAW briefly up against the glass before motioning for the tellers to step back. The two tellers stepped back, hands never straying to an alarm button.

She pointed at the door and they nodded, both moving together, hands on their heads.

They exited the door and joined the others where Death had herded them against the far wall.

"Toss your phones in the middle, please!" He shouted, leveling his gun at the furthest person leaning against the wall. Phones began landing in the center of the room and Death began tying people's hands and feet with zip ties all the while under the watchful gaze of War and her light machinegun.

Pulling the final tie closed, Death ignored the whimpers of the hostages and moved to War, unslinging the duffle bag from her back. Walking to the door he opened the bag and unfurled a piece of paper with "Closed for Construction" on it with a forged work permit and county office log sheet. Anyone from the municipal would realize that it was bullshit, but this stopped any random bank goers from stumbling upon them and raising the alarm to the police. Sure, they could easily take the cops in this area, but why risk it.

He slapped the poster on the glass and unrolled a thing of "construction work" paper, plastering both over the windows.

He returned to War and gave her a nod before heading to the back room to see what was taking Strife and Pestilence so long.

War hefted her SAW and stared down one of the men on the far left of the hostages. The man's hands were calmly in his lap, but his eyes said he was preparing for something. War shook her head and swept her gaze away. She turned and began walking down the line, her finger moving to the trigger. She realized where she had seen eyes like that before. They were the eyes of a soldier, he'd be giving them trouble before long.

Death approached the open door with caution. The lights were out and he thought he heard Pestilence yelp. He raised his sub to his shoulder and stepped through the door. His eyes swept the darkened room taking in the upturned desk and the legs sticking out from under it, and sweeping across to the far corner where he saw Pestilence being roughly shoved against the wall. She gasped and the figure moved close growling something. Death silently let the MP7 hang on its strap and drew the sawed off from its place on his thigh. He crossed the room swiftly, pulling the figure off Pestilence and slamming it into the wall. Shoving the barrel into the soft of the figures throat, he glared into the face of the man who dared to touch one of them.

Or he would have, if there wasn't a golden horned mask glaring right back. The facts fell into place and Death dropped the barrel from Strife's throat.

"You two are fucked up!" He shouted, turning away from them and stomping to the door. "Really! In the middle of a fucking Heist!" He stormed out of the camera room and back into the hallway, raging about the two being idiots. War half turned to face him when he came back into the lobby. "THOSE TWO!" he roared. "FUCKING HELL!"

Her face broke into a grin underneath her mask. "If you dropped the Hell and gave it five minutes I wouldn't doubt it," she joked back, keeping the barrel of her gun pointed at the hostages.

"UGH!" He growled walking past the man on the far end. He was about halfway past him, when the man sprang to his feet, blade flashing in the light seeping through the skylights. Without turning, Death swung the gun around his back, letting the strap catch it and carry its ark, the butt slamming into the man's outstretched knife hand. The sawed off came up once more and he finally turned, jamming the barrel into the neck of the man clutching his hand where the knife had once been.

He kicked the man in his knees and smashed the grip into the side of his head. As the man rolled onto the ground his words reached Death. "Do you know who you're robbing! This is Chosen territory!"

"I don't give a shit if this is a gang bank" he responded loudly. He kicked the man in the side and leaned down as he clutched his broken ribs. He moved in closer and spoke in a voice barely audible "And you can take your favor of the Gods and shove it up your ass." He stood again and kicked the man in the face, waiting until the body had slumped to the ground before tying his hands, and arms together with several cable ties, before securing the man's feet to his arms with more ties. He dragged the man over to the line and left him there.

"If he wakes up kick him in the face," he instructed the man next in line. "If he says a single word, or makes a single noise. You both die!" Ignoring the man's vigorous nodding he moved back to War, his voice dropping again. "Let's make this fast, alarms already gone out. I just did a head count and we're missing one."

War's hand turned white as it gripped the under barrel. "I knew that one looked like a wind nymph. We shoulda plugged it when we came in," she growled. Releasing her death grip on her SAW she reached down and undid one of the buckles on her armor, dropping the satchel from where it was cinched to her back. Death caught it and hurled it at the hallway as Strife came back, rubbing his neck. His hand flashed up and caught the satchel, his mouth opening to say something before he realized the meaning. He turned back down the hallway and a shout of acknowledgement followed. Pestilence joined him and they rushed to the vault, Strife tossing her a block of c4 with a detonator and a small glass vial.

Strife grinned under his mask as they placed the devices on the hinges and lock. They were a combination of Human C4 and a directional charge of greek fire and a few other bips and bobs that no other living soul knew how to create. Magically warded or not, this door was coming down.

Pestilence and Strife moved away from the vault door a good distance. As they approached, War cat called and Strife's gaze snapped to Death. "Asshole," he growled raising the detonator in his hand and pressing the button.

LINEAR FISSURE

Flames exploded from the walls nearly burning him as he walked. The Giant beside him moving without a care in the world. The heat from the furnaces bathed Percy as he followed Damasen through the forge.

"Welcome to the forges, Perseus" the giant rumbled. "We need to get you outfitted before Lord Kronos finishes speaking to Tartarus. I'm sure the Lord of the Pit will have a few things to say to you as well."

The giant turned to Percy and raised an eyebrow. "Ready to meet the Blacksmith?"

"The Blacksmith?" Percy asked. Damasen laughed and shoved open the doors.

Interesting, Percy thought. He followed the giant through the door.

The heat slammed into him, stopping him near dead in his tracks. All around him flames roared and crackled like dozens of battling beasts. The fires leaped at each other, clawing and slashing. Their onslaughts heated the iron of the giant vats suspended from the ceiling by chains. Steam thundered from pipes that snaked around the room.

The giant walked right through, unfazed as flames belched from one of the massive fires. Percy steeled himself and walked onwards. The heat didn't abate. If anything it got more intense as Damasen wound his way through the forge. Up ahead Percy could make out the shapes of two enormous figures through the flames and smoke. Each held a massive hammer that would have probably taken two hands for him to even raise. To the rhythm of some unheard beat, they alternately pounded their tools into a piece of black metal.

They seemed to sense Damasen's approach and ceased their hammering. The figures both bowed deeply before pulling the giant into separate embraces. They both straightened as Percy finished passing around a giant anvil. When they saw his face they both staggered backwards in horror or surprise, Percy couldn't tell.

He didn't have to wonder long before one of the figures bounded across the remaining distance and slammed into him. Percy struggled in his pocket for a weapon that wasn't there as he felt his ribs creak as whoever had grabbed him crushed him in a bone crushing hug.

Percy knew that hug. He felt tears prickle at his eyes as he gasped for breath. "Tyson!" he gasped as the Cyclops released his hold on him. "What are you doing down here! We lost contact with you during the war?"

The Cyclops pulled back and started crying. "The mean demigods killed Ella! I tried an stop them But-" the Cyclops broke down crying again. "They hurt me too and when I woke up, I was down in this place." The Cyclops started smiling again. "But Kronos found me and brought me here. Can you believe he's the same one as the mean person who tried to hurt us?"

Percy couldn't help but smile at how little his brother had changed. He still couldn't focus on just one part of a conversation, but there was something that Percy saw in him that upset the former demigod. Where was that Harpy. He assumed Tyson and she were rarely parted. He started looking around up at the pipes, perhaps she was up there somewhere.

Tyson seemed to follow his gaze and immediately he started crying again. He tried to form words, but he just turned and ran deeper into the forge.

Percy started to follow, but Damasen held up a hand and started after the Cyclops. Percy's mind was spinning, something that was happening much too often for his liking.

The second figure walked up beside him. "We still haven't found her," he said. Clasping a giant hand on Percy's shoulder. Percy flinched at the voice. He steeled himself and looked to his right.

"Beck…." he stammered. "What are you doing down here?"

Beckendorf's face hardened. Anger clouded his gaze and Percy's muscles tensed.

"On orders of Zeus, Selina was to be thrown into Tartarus. According to him, there is no redemption for Traitors. So when they cast her in, I went with her. And Kronos found us," he paused and looked at Percy. "He explained everything to us. So we found a home here. We get to work in the forges, and in return Kronos' protection keeps us from being 'acquired' by any of the other beings down here."

Percy was stunned, Zeus had thrown the two of them into Tartarus, who knows how long ago. Perhaps his realizations had come too late, the King of the Gods had clearly been acting on his own accord for much longer than he had realized.

"Beck, I'm-" Percy started, but Beckendorf cut him off.

"Percy, I made my decision. Plus Selina and I had a good time in Elysium. None of this is your fault" but Percy wasn't convinced.

"No. It is my fault, but I'll make this right. I'll get you back into Elysium. I promise," he tried.

Beckendorf just laughed. "Percy, we don't want to go back. This place," he waved a hand around him. "This is our home now. We don't mind protecting those within this fortress and the city. In some ways, this is better than Elysium."

Percy started to argue, but stopped. "Alright," he clasped the man beside him by the arm. "But know this. One day Zeus will receive his penance for what he has done. I promise you that"

Beckendorf seemed to notice something in his face and nodded. "As you say, Lord of Avernus," he said laughing. "Bloods, that's going to be amusing to say" he said much to Percy's disapproval.

"You don't need to call me that," Percy grumbled. "Where's Selina?"

Beck's face broke into an even bigger grin.

"She's below, in the City. She's due in two weeks," the big man said, blushing.

Percy laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "That's a

mazing Beck!"

The two friends shared a laugh. They both turned as Damasen approached them.

"Young Tyson will be okay," the giant said. "I'll leave you in the capable hands of our smith," the giant said to Percy and the demigod beside him. "Someone will be by to escort you to an audience with The Lord of the Pit and Lord Kronos."

Percy nodded. "Thank you Damasen. It is good to see you once more"

The giant clasped a hand over his right breast. "You as well Young Perseus. I'm sorry you are down here, but we could use a strong soul like you," The giant turned and left, leaving Percy and Beckendorf together in the forge.

Beckendorf nodded once and clasped his hands together. "Alright, let's get you some armor."

Over the next several hours, Percy and Beckendorf worked alongside Tyson when he returned to create Percy's armor. As they worked, they traded stories. Beckendorf spoke of Elysium and Percy told about the second war. Their chatter helped keep them going as they worked, the time not as noticeable to them.

Exhausted and overheated, the three of them stumbled to the back of the forge. They laid out all the armor. They all stumbled into the showers, cleaning off as best they could. Percy marveled at how advanced the fortress was, they even had a source of running water or at least something that looked and felt like water. Even though the water didn't rejuvenate him like it had once, the thought sent a small spike of pain into his heart, he still felt better when they were all done and in new clothes.

His old clothes from the world above had been discarded for new garments. He wore a pair of leather, or of a similar material, trousers and a pair of shin length socks. A dark black t-shirt-esq garment was followed by a dark maroon vest. The vest was laced up, leaving his arms clear.

They walked back to the armor and Beckendorf clasped Percy on the shoulder. Under the blacksmith's instructions he put on the brigandine like armor. Dark leather like material with overlapping plates of the dark metal that the two smith's referred to as Bloodstone. The piece had long sleeves with Bloodstone studs that stopped at the biceps. Then came the pauldrons, giant Bloodstone domes that the top of reached about the same height as his chin.

Tyson helped him with his boots. The material was of the same as the leather, but they reached about an inch or two beneath his knee. There a segment of hard leather covered the knee, but still allowed it to bend. The thighs were left mostly bare, minus the armor that was already a part of the trousers. At the time Percy hadn't noticed them, but there was clearly enough material there to slow a powerful blow. About mid-thigh, on the side the Cyclops strapped a sheath for a dagger, and on the other leg a pouch for something small.

Beckendorf helped Perseus into a cape. Stark white, with a Scythe emblem. At the neck of the armor, Beckendorf attached a hood. Dark black with maroon highlights. Satisfied, the two smiths pulled back and examined Percy.

"You-" Beckendorf paused and Percy began to wonder if he looked like a fool. "Look like a fucking badass!" The smith thundered pointing Percy towards a mirror that was half fogged up. Percy examined himself, looking back at the face underneath the hood. That face wasn't his own. He wasn't used to that face. Something had changed when he had fallen from the throne room of Olympus. There was a hardness there, his eyes were unkind. He wasn't the same man that he was before that fateful day.

"This is truly amazing. Thank you both," Percy said, his eyes sweeping the work benches, landing on the object that he had seen in passing.

As the two smiths basked in their glory and told him that he should return at any time, Percy moved to the bench and picked up what he was after. There was a piece of a porcelain like material that was left discarded as Selina was in the city and not able to work on the finer details of armor. Beckendorf followed Percy to the bench and was appraising what he had found.

"That's Bloodstone, but Selina did something to it to turn it white. It's not finished yet, she still needs to add the mouth holes and detail it for the faceplate of one of the royal guard's great helms." He explained.

Percy picked up the plate, feeling the eye holes on the faceless porcelain. This would do perfectly. He kept the hood on, and put the mask onto his face. It just seemed to grab his face and attach itself to it. He turned to look at the mirror and gave himself a satisfied smile. There, the only thing that could be seen was his eyes. The plain white accented itself with the maroon and stood out against the dark colors of the Bloodstone.

He turned to Beckendorf. The blacksmith looked him up and down and grinned. "Now that is BAD FUCKING ASS!" the demigod roared. Percy nodded his head once at his ecstatic friend and turned to the Cyclops that had come from the hall. It seemed confused for a moment before noticing the armor and cloak. "Lord Perseus," he said bowing. "If you would come with me, Lord Kronos requests your presence in the main courtyard."

Percy nodded and turned to the door. It was time to go meet Tartarus and then truly begin his existence in this Hell Pit.

The he left the room, his armor making no noise as he walked beside the Cyclops messenger.

A new immortal, preparing to make a name for himself once more.


End file.
